Utah lawmakers avoid dinosaur fight with new state symbol

1/23/18 3:56 PM

SALT LAKE CITY — A fight in the Utah Legislature over what should be named the state fossil has been avoided with the introduction of an official state dinosaur.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports state Sen. Curt Bramble will end his push to have the Utahraptor replace the Allosaurus as the state fossil, and he plans to introduce legislation to name the Utahraptor as the new state dinosaur.

The Republican senator says paleontologists made cases for both dinosaurs and suggested the establishment of a state dinosaur.

Bramble introduced a bill to change the state fossil after 10-year-old dinosaur fanatic Kenyon Roberts proposed the Utahraptor as a replacement.

State Paleontologist James Kirkland discovered the Utahraptor near Arches National Park in 1990. Kirkland with Robert Gaston and Donald Burge named it in 1993.

U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch poked a bit of fun at himself Tuesday when he shared the latest development on his Twitter account.

“Thank you for this fitting tribute to my decades of service,” tweeted the 83-year-old Utah Republican who has announced plans to retire at the end of his current term.

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